For Those You Love
by ToxThexMoonxAndxBack
Summary: When a lawyer is found dead Ronnie and Joe set about getting justice for his family. When they discover he's an old friend of Jake's things take an unexpected turn. Meanwhile Jake must deal with the loss of his friend as he and Kate start investigating why recent CPS trials are ending with the certainly guilty defendant walking free. Could the two things be related. (Kate/Jake)
1. Chapter 1

AN: so I'm back, I'm deleting Their Stories because the writer's block was too much so i'm here with another story. Hope you enjoy this new story, please review. x

XxX

Joe shivered as he and Ron walked under the police tape that was cordoning off the crime scene. It was early morning in January and the bitter winter weather cut straight through him. He pulled the sleeves of his jacket over his hands as Ronnie made his way to Joy.

"Morning." Joy nodded seeing them both.

"Looks more like evening." Joe muttered and Ronnie shot him a looked which told him to stop moaning.

"Trust me Joseph I have better things to be doing than standing round here talking to you." Joy folded her arms. "I'm sure Tristan Marks did as well."

"Who?" Joe asked.

"The victim." She said as she was handed a clipboard and walked them over the spot where they had found the body. "Tristan Marks, 34, bullet to the heart. Found by a nurse on her way to work. She though he might have been drunk but when she got to him she realised he obviously wasn't."

"Do you know any more about him?"

She nodded. "He was dressed smartly, from his business card we believe he was a lawyer." She handed him a wallet in a plastic bag. "There's a photo of two young kids in it, and he had a wedding ring on."

Ronnie sighed. "What a start to the year." he carefully took the wallet out of the bag and opened it seeing the picture of a boy and girl aged around 6 and 3. "Well we'll see what we can find."

Joy gave him a reassuring smile before walking off to continue her work.

"What now?" Joe asked looking at the picture.

"We'll contact his family..." Ronnie closed the wallet and put it back in the plastic bag. "Shot through the heart, that's not some kind of random killing. This was planned. Look at this place. Why would someone like him be in a place like this?"

Joe looked around the street they found themselves in. Ron was right, it was a rough area. Someone like Tristan Marks seemed very out of place. "Maybe someone asked him to come here?"

"That's what I'm thinking. And then they killed him."

XxX

"Did that just..." Kate started but found herself unable to finish her sentence as she and Jake walked out of the Old Bailey. The events of court playing through her mind. Two words ringing in her ears. 'Not guilty'.

Jake simply nodded. "Yes. Yes it did."

She ran her hand over her face. "He walked. Just like that..."

"I know."

"How can he have walked?"

He could tell just how angry she was by the way she nearly choked on the tears that were forming in her eyes. Some cases would get to them more than others and after all the work they'd put into the case to just have it collapse from underneath them was so frustrating. Even more so for Kate as she'd been leading the trial. He couldn't work out what had gone wrong. Chris Barson was a monster and now he was back on the streets.

He took her hand in his but said nothing unsure on what he could say that would make her fell any better. She was glad he didn't say anything, she wasn't in the mood to talk. 3 months they'd worked the Barson trial and it was all for nothing. She didn't understand, how could he have been allowed to walk free? Not guilty? Were the jury not listening? Now Barson was free what would he do next? She blinked hard refusing to let any emotions get the better of her before she held Jake's hand tighter.

"Let's just go back to the office. Henry's going to have a fit but..."

"Forget about Henry." He said calmly. "We did everything we could."

"I must've missed something. "

"Stop right there." He pulled her aside. "This wasn't your fault, I don't know what happened in that courtroom because you should've got a guilty verdict."

"Yes. I should've done. But I didn't."

He put his fingers to her lips silencing her and she sighed as he carried on speaking. "And remember you weren't the only one working that case. I was there too. We did everything we could. You did everything you could. Now it's over."

"But Barson is free. He'll kill again."

He nodded. "I know. Everyone in that courtroom could tell he was guilty."

"So what happened?"

He moved his hand stroking her cheek. "I don't know."

XxX

"Tristan Marks was a lawyer, he's worked as a prosecutor up North for the last year but moved back to London three weeks ago with his wife, Danielle and their two kids." Angie informed Ron and Joe as they arrived back at MIU.

"Right well, we should go and speak to her then, do you have the address?" Ron asked and Angie handed it to him. "Angie can you find out wherever Tristan was working, I think we should look into what he might have been working on."

Angie nodded going back to her computer.

"You think it was work related?" Joe asked.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "But there must be a reason someone like him was in that part of town? According to Joy he'd been killed between eleven and one this morning. What was he doing?"

XxX

The grief in the families eyes was something that Joe struggled to look at. The way that they could say just a few words and it would bring a stranger's world crashing down. Ron always said it didn't get any easier and he was right, it didn't. He thought maybe it would just seem like part of everyday but it didn't.

Ron and Joe sat on the sofa in silence allowing Danielle to deal with her grief in her own way. After the initial shock had passed and her first tears had subsided she went quiet, mentally trying to process what she'd just been told.

"Do you know who..." She started and Ron shook his head.

"Not yet, but we will."

She ran her hand over her face. "When he didn't come back I just assumed it was you know, work related or something, thought he might be sleeping at the office like he sometimes did when he was busy...but then he didn't call or text and..."

"Your husband was a lawyer?"

She nodded getting to her and crossing the room before returning with a photograph. "Him and his law school mates. He said they were...like his brothers. He was an only child you see. So they became his family. He's known some of them years before that, at boarding school." She turned the photo to show them handing it to Ron, it was of a group of men in their early twenties gathered in a pub. She pointed to where her husband was stood. "Him and Jake definitely, deadly duo. He always said it was Jake that got him through law school...and he loved his job...even when it was hard..."

It took a moment for Ronnie to recognise him but he saw the man stood next to Tristan in the photo was Jake.

"Jacob Thorne?"

"You know him?" She asked and

Ron and Joe nodded. "He's a friend of ours, we've worked with him quite a lot."

"Yeah? Him and Jake have been best mates forever I'll have to tell him...I...I don't know how to..." She burried her face in her hands. "What am I gonna tell Ethan and Jodie? How do I tell them their daddy isn't coming home?"

Ron placed the photograph on the coffee table and moved to comfort her. "We'll find who killed him, Mrs Marks. Can you think of anyone who might want to harm him in anyway?"

"When you exclude all the nutters he's helped get sent down over the years then I don't know..." She bit her lip. "But he did seem off recently. Like something was bothering him. I don't know what. He never really spoke about work unless it really upset him but...you know, yesterday he mentioned that he had to speak to Jake about something. I asked him what but he said it was nothing important. I could see it in his eyes though, it had to be something important because he said he wanted to meet up with him rather than phone him."

"Okay." Ron said. "We'll speak to Jake and see if he knows anymore. And we'll speak to his work colleagues."

"Can...can you tell Jake for me?"

Ron and Joe both nodded, the poor woman had enough to deal with herself. They both got up to leave.

"Call us if you need us." Joe told her. "Or if you remember anything that you think might be connected."

XxX

"Well that was mild by his standards." Kate said after Henry left their office. She turned to look at Jake who was lent against his desk. "You okay?"

He nodded. "Thinking."

"Always a worry."

He rolled his eyes and she lent agaisnt his desk beside him. "Tell me I'm overthinking it."

"You're overthinking it. What are you overthinking?"

"It's probably nothing..."

"Yes..."

"But if you think about the cases the CPS has dealt with over the last, what six months, not just by us but everyone, there's been some pretty shocking turn outs."

"What do you mean?"

"Well Lucy Featherstone walked free despite the fact she was found with the murder weapon on her, In the Cope and Greggory case both of them walked free. It doesn't make sense."

"You think it's something more than just juries being inhuman?"

He nodded. "Yeah...I do..."

They were interrupted by Ron and Joe entering.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Kate asked the detectives as she and Jake stood properly. She suddenly got the feeling they were about to tell them something bad.

"Jake..." Ronnie started. "You're friends with Tristan Marks, right?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah? What's he done?"

"I'm afraid he was found dead at half past five this morning. He'd been shot."

The room fell silent and Jake's mind went blank, nothing registered at all for at least a few seconds, Ronnie and Joe might have been talking but he wasn't listening. It was only when Kate put her hand on his arm did things sink in. He looked at her, she was blinking back tears. She'd met Tris when they were still just friends, before they became a couple, and she'd become good friends with Tris and Danielle. Even more so since she and him became a couple. The family Jake had found with Tris, his wife and their kids Kate had so easily become a part of. Tris coudn't be dead. Kate turned into him and Jake wrapped his arm around her holding her to him. She was suddenly the only thing holding him together.

"Danielle...is she okay?" He asked.

"She was holding herself together when we left, but she said Tristan had wanted to speak to you about something?" Joe said.

"He wanted to meet tomorrow but..." Jake swallowed. "He never told me what about, I think it might have been work related..."

"She said the two of you had known each other a long time?"

Jake nodded. "Since we were kids..."

"I'm sorry."

Ron and Joe exchanged a glance with each other, they had a feeling things were about to get worse.


	2. Chapter 2

An: not sure where I'm going with this yet but I'm enjoying writing for these characters again. Please review x

XxX

"Tristan wasn't working as a barrister when he was killed." Joe announced and Ronnie looked up from his computer.

"What was he doing then?"

"He was an assistant in a chambers but that's because he was a bit busy doing something else." Joe held out a black leather bound notebook in an evidence bag.

"What's this?"

"Found it in the glove compartment of his car." He explained. "Looks like he was doing some detective work."

"Well what was he detecting?" Ronnie asked taking the notebook.

"He's been looking into other trials, specifically ones at the CPS." Joe sat down. "He writes about how there have been cases that should've resulted in a guilty verdict that took a complete turn around in the last few days of the trial. The prosecution's case being ripped to shreds, the jury making their decision faster than normal."

"He thinks they're fixed?"

"Yes. Or he thinks something is going wrong. Something leads these people to being let free. In several cases the defence have somehow found something that was vital to the prosecution. He even talks about juries being corrupt..."

"The Chris Barson trail?"

"Look at the last entry."

Ron flipped through the notebook to find the last page Tristan had written. He read it before looking back at Joe. "He thought Kate and Jake's case was in danger?"

"I've not read the whole book yet but if he thought someone at the CPS or the Old Bailey was somehow causing these trials to go a certain way..."

"They'd want him out of the way."

XxX

It was Kate who had pulled Danielle into her arms when they'd arrived at the house. Jake hung back not sure what to say. Kate decided that whatever she was feeling was nothing compared to what Danielle and Jake would be going through. They came first. Her feelings at that moment didn't count. She let Jake stand back away from them, silently processing everything whilst Danielle cried on her shoulder.

"I don't know what to do..." Danielle said almost clinging to the younger woman. "I can't look after the kids on my own."

"Elle, you're not on your own." Kate spoke calmly. "You've got us. I promise."

"What if they don't find who did it?"

Kate wasn't sure how she could make her feel better. What could she say that would? Her husband was dead. She'd lost someone she loved. Kate couldn't even begin to imagine how she would be if she was in Danielle's position and Jake had been killed. Even the thought of it...

"Ronnie and Joe are the best. If anyone can find who did this it's them."

"It won't bring him back though."

"I know. Nothing can do that..."

"I had to tell Jodie and Ethan their dad wasn't coming home...Jodie didn't understand...I can't...what kind of mum am I gonna be now?"

"You're going to be an amazing mum, Elle. Just like you always have been."

Danielle took a step back running her hands over her face.

"Thanks..."

"We're here for you, Elle. I promise."

She looked over at Jake who was lent against the wall. She would be there for both of them no matter what.

XxX

"Tris was a good bloke you know? Salt of the earth."

Ronnie and Joe stood opposite the prosecutor that Tristan had been working as an assistant for.

"Steven, can you think of anyone who might be angry at Tristan?"

Steven shrugged. "Other than those he's sent down over the years? I don't know."

"Why was he working as an assistant?"

"He said he was working on something else so for the time being only wanted to do assistant work."

"Do you know what he was working on?" Ron asked wondering if Steven knew anything about what Tristan had been looking into.

"I'm not sure." A look of realisation suddenly appeared on Stephen's face. "But thinking about it something was bothering him."

"What makes you say that?"

"I heard him on the phone to someone. I don't know who. But a few days ago he was on the phone and he said something like 'I can't believe you'd do something like this. I can't help you anymore' Like I said though I don't know who he was talking to..."

Ron looked at Joe then back at Steven. "When was this?"

"Two days ago."

"Looks like he had fallen out with someone."

XxX

Kate woke to find the other side of the bed empty. She breathed in feeling a sense of worry. Jake could be stoic when he wanted, it seemed she was one of the few people he showed any kind of emotions to. But now Tris was dead it was though he'd fallen into some kind of trance and he was running on autopilot. She checked the time on her phone. It was 1am. She thought about going back to sleep, maybe he wouldn't want to talk but then she knew she wouldn't sleep without knowing he was okay. She got out of bed and decided to go and find him. She didn't want to leave him alone, not when he was like this.

It was her arms slipping round his waist that brought Jake back to reality as he stood silently in the kitchen. Kate rested her cheek against his back as she hugged him from behind.

"Sorry..." he said putting his hand on hers. "I couldn't sleep."

She pressed her lips to his back. "Nor me...not without you..."

He turned to face her and brought her into his arms properly. He breathed in scent on her hair not knowing what he'd be like if he didn't have her around. His oldest friend was dead, killed. He didn't know what to think about that. He was just about holding it together.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" She asked looking up at him, he had nothing to be apologising about.

"For being like this..."

"He was your friend. You've every right to be upset..." she put her hand on his chest. "I know you find this stuff difficult but you don't have to hide these kind of things from me..."

"Old habits." He kissed her forehead. "Thank you for looking after Elle, I just couldn't. I..."

"It's okay." Kate nodded. "I knew. I could see you both needed someone who wasn't about to burst into tears. Tris was my friend but my feelings aren't important. Not now."

"Kate..."

"I know you're going to say that I don't need to pretend I'm fine to protect you both but I do. Because right now I don't really know how to do anything else..."

He tilted her head up to look at him. He held her gaze. "I love you."

She gently pressed her lips to his. "I love you too." She took his hand linking their fingers. "Come back to bed..."

"Kate..."

She kissed him again. "Bed."

"Kate."

"No arguments."

"I'm good at arguing."

"Not when it's against me."

He stroked her cheek. "I don't deserve you."

"Objection. You deserve better."

"Impossible." He kissed the top of her head. "Do you conceded?"

"I conceded. Bed."


End file.
